"What have I got to lose, really? Why put more pressure on myself to say I'm playing against the World No.1? Just go play golf."

Potter Jr. once missed 24 straight cuts on the Web.com Tour. But he now has two PGA Tour titles to his name. PHOTO: Jeff Gross/Getty Images.

Potter has endured a hard-fought journey to the top tier of golf.

After turning pro as a teenager in 2002 he missed every cut in his first 24 starts on the Nationwide Tour, now called the Web.com.

After 60 victories on the mini tours, Potter made it to the PGA Tour in 2012 and recorded a maiden win but battled to retain his playing card in the years following.

"When I first turned pro I was working at the cart barn (at a golf course) in Orlando, so on my days off I'd play some mini-tour events to try to win a couple hundred bucks," he said.

"There's always a time when you definitely are living pay cheque to pay cheque as a mini-tour player, so that's a lot of pressure on you when you're trying to save enough money to go to Q-School at the end of it."

In 2014, Potter took a wrong step while wearing thongs outside his Montreal hotel during the Canadian Open and fractured his right ankle.

"I broke my fibula and tibia, I had 12 screws and two plates put in it," he said.

Potter earns his second career start the Masters, plus status on the US Tour until the end of 2020.

"I'm pleased to be able to pick a schedule now and pick some courses that I like and work hard," he said.